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Fight! - Challengers Power Level 4 Colt Freeborn  Those whacky Alucard clones. Fighting Style: Devil Pistol Duelling Win Quote: "Don't worry - I swore these guns would never take another life." Colt is another Fighter from the Lastborn campaign, which apparently took some inspirations from Final Fantasy 7: He used to work as a ruthless mercenary, collecting bounty to afford medicine from the Shori Corporation (Not-Shinra) to help his ill sister. Naturally, earning cash by shooting people in the head doesn't make one particularly popular, and one day one of his enemies found his home and killed his sister. Colt was about to just throw himself from the megacity's wall when he had a sudden vision from Prima (aka the Not-Lifestream). Unlike in FF7, he didn't become a terrorist, just a priest, trying to promote a more harmonious life with nature. Then he had another vision telling him his pistol skills were needed once again. (Also his pistols can just slide in and out of his sleeves.) Colt is a balanced Fighter aside from his height. He naturally makes use of his pistols, be it as part of his Throw (Punishing Barrage), two Special Moves (Cross Fire and Righteous Hammer) for long-range combos. His Super uses them as well, firing an extra powerful shot with the Cruciform Myster. Colt also has grenades with him (Devil Grenade) and knows a few kick Moves to serve as combo starters. Dr. Silver Maxwell  Dr. Magnethand's edgier brother. Fighting Style: Protean Improvisation Win Quote: "Truly, this victory was due to... PILLS! I need PILLS!" Silver Edison Maxwell is basically a WoD Deviant meets: Having been hired by the Society of Theoreticla Metallurgy to run some tests on their formable "command metal", he ended up morphing with the alloy after an explosion. Now being basically a T-1000, Maxwell has gotten a lot more attention than he'd prefer - especially from rival organizations and the occasional martial artist who want bragging rights for defeating a metal man. He also has to take special anti-psychotic pills or else his mind starts going a bit crazy. Oh, and the name tag on his coat just says "Science!" Maxwell is a very slow fellow who can tank pretty darn good. He can even heal himself with Re-Forged Man. He has two Moves with Always Does Damage (Cutting Analysis and Vivisection, both involving his arms turning into blades) to whittle away at the enemy. Chains of Ignorance lets him bind opponents in place by turning part of his body into chains. He's also the first Fighter here with two Super Moves: Pre-Mortem Autopsy has him dash towards his opponent and essentially explode into a whirlwind of scalpels and other surgical instruments, and Molten Meteor turns him into a superheated sphere to ram the opponent. Hannah St. Germaine  Black Widow: The Animation Fighting Style: Spy Training Win Quote: "I deal with people like you so the rest of the world can sleep easy at night." Another character from the Twin Strike setting, though her partner Eddie Kaine is Sir-not-appearing-in-this-book. Her origin is pretty straightforward: She was recruited by the top secret World Security Consulate, and has been working for them ever since. Hannah has been optimized for ranged combat. Her Strength -1 won't win her any candles in close combat, but her Speed of 2 also comes in handy. She's also put quite a few points in Ki, and she's gotten herself a 3-hit chain Combo (Head Shot -> Double Tap -> Three Round Burst) to capitalize on it, though she ocassionally has to reload the first Move. Her short-range Moves mostly consist of a sweep and throws to keep the opponent on the ground, including a 2-part-throw (Commando Lock -> Arm Break). Her super is another ranged attack: One Shot, One Kill, a suped-up Head Shot. Jinsokuna Kitsune (Jin)  Not actually a foxboy. Just a cosplay ninja. Fighting Style: Hagane no daitai Ninjutsu Win Quote: "Don't mess with my clan" Yet another Lastborn Fighter. He hails from the wasteland, more specifically from a ninja clan that was part of the Cult of Apollyon. Bad guys basically, but he himself eventually become more heroic. I have a growing suspicion this guy was definitely one of the PCs of that campaign, from a player who went all out. There's all sorts of crazy elaborate stuff about this character: There are different conditions listed for his win poses, every Special Move is in Japanese (with at least 3 words no less), some of his Moves are customized like crazy, and one of his Super has a description that goes on for 2 paragraphs. This guy has it all. His base capabilities are near identical to Hannah, but whereas she relies on a bread-and-butter combo, Jin has all sorts of crazy tools. Examples? One of his Moves comes with a Fake version to catch opponents off guard, Kage No Kitsune makes him go invisible, Watashi Wa Kurayami No Nakada (  ) is a teleportation move, and Tamashi No Shiru is a troll counter move involving an illusionary doppelganger.His Supers are Sen Chen Wa Himitsu Kogeki (your typical "Ninja splits into four and attacks from all directions", except on partial hit; then he just goes a bit apeshit) and Hagane Daitai No Ishi is a healing move. Ten  That's a nice collar. Fighting Style: World Serpent Kung Fu Win Quote: "And the crowd goes wild!" It's Lastborn time again. With one of the main characters no less. Ten is actually called Maggie Sims and a star in the world of combat reality shows (Street Fighter meets XCrawl?). Unbeknownst to her fans, she's actually the daughter of an influential member of Not-Shinra, and her good connections with him paints her as a sort of anti-hero. Ten is well-rounded, with a stronger focus on defense. She has a wide variety on Moves, including multiple throws, a juggle Move (Ten Clubs!), two ranged attacks using ki (Kiss of the Ethereal Adder and Greater Ethereal Adder), and two Moves with the always-annoying Always Does Damage (with Writhing Serpent Smash being able to cause stagger and hit opponents in mid-air, while Flowing Motion is fast and combo friendly). Her only Super is Snake Hand, which is similar to Kyo's classic Orochinagi (aka "charge yourself up with energy and attack") Next Time: Power Level 5 and 6. They're both blue anyways, and the number of Fighters per Power Level is starting to get a bit low. Doresh fucked around with this message at 20:08 on Feb 20, 2017 |
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Feb 20, 2017 20:01
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Bear in mind also being near the detonation zone that was D&D 3e was instant RPG cred - i.e. "why people take SKR seriously" - and Cook was one of the designers. Cook being a blunt self-promoter and breaking free from WotC early on to so, however, is what really separates him from the rest. It's no weird accident, he's worked hard to build his name up and was one of the best 3rd party designers of d20 material for a long time. Mind, the bar for that was not high, but he cleared it where most others did not.
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Feb 20, 2017 20:27
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Kurieg posted:Yeah, it's a super archaic word since fortune telling via cards is a big loving deal in the game. The hilarious bit is that Sortilege was the root word that turned into Sorcery, which is one of the other skills you can get. Yeah, I raised an eyebrow at Sorcery and Sortilege being separate stats. So, the physical pool basically breaks down to Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution, while the mental pool is Intelligence, Charisma, Wisdom, and some kind of magical aptitude? ("Sortilege" is one of those Gygaxian words you sometimes stumble over in extruded swords-n-sorcery product. Like "dweomer" and "thew.")
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Feb 20, 2017 21:14
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Selachian posted:Yeah, I raised an eyebrow at Sorcery and Sortilege being separate stats.
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Feb 20, 2017 21:21
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Selachian posted:("Sortilege" is one of those Gygaxian words you sometimes stumble over in extruded swords-n-sorcery product. Like "dweomer" and "thew.") Sortilege can perforce be unremembered akin to the coinciding purple prose that is naught exercised presently. (Also this whole "No math here! See, you have everything before you! It's so easy!" is kinda funny. It's like this was written for people recovering from Torg's magic creation system or something.)
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Feb 20, 2017 21:58
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It's amazing how much bad technical writing flowed out of Gary Gygax reading Jack Vance and Not Getting It, At All.
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Feb 20, 2017 22:07
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Doresh posted:
*Gah* those proportions. Even for manga-style art that's bad.
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Feb 20, 2017 22:21
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Halloween Jack posted:It's amazing how much bad technical writing flowed out of Gary Gygax reading Jack Vance and Not Getting It, At All. My favorite Gygax-speak was "doughty fighters", because I kept reading it as "doughy" and had the image of a bunch of chunky dudes with their beer guts sticking out under their breastplates, huffing as they climb the dungeon stairs.
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Feb 20, 2017 22:48
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Selachian posted:extruded swords-n-sorcery product
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Feb 20, 2017 22:57
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Alien Rope Burn posted:I had something harsher written to wrap this up, but it doesn’t feel appropriate to me at this moment given the recent events surrounding Palladium Books. What's this about?
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Feb 20, 2017 23:00
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Maxwell Lord posted:*Gah* those proportions. Even for manga-style art that's bad. Yeah, that one stands out a bit. Though I guess it's more Aeon-Flux-y?
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Feb 20, 2017 23:02
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AmiYumi posted:Thank you for this phrase, I'll be using it forever.
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Feb 20, 2017 23:03
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Doresh posted:Yeah, that one stands out a bit. Though I guess it's more Aeon-Flux-y? reminds me of Bayonetta actually - though for the most part, you don't really know how weird her proportions are.
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Feb 20, 2017 23:05
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SirPhoebos posted:What's this about? Kevin's friend tried to kill himself. There are details a page or three back in the Kickstarter thread if you must.
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Feb 20, 2017 23:09
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SirPhoebos posted:What's this about? It's all the rage over on the TG Kickstarter thread. A guy working on a Rifts boardgames had a breakdown after yelling at angry pledgers to a different Rifts project, and evidently attempted suicide shortly thereafter. Kevin apparently saw this as a great story to, you guessed it, score some points in his fight with those same angry pledgers. There's way better detail in the other thread though.
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Feb 20, 2017 23:11
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That Old Tree posted:Kevin's friend tried to kill himself. There are details a page or three back in the Kickstarter thread if you must.  oooh....
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Feb 20, 2017 23:11
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Doresh posted:Yeah, that one stands out a bit. Though I guess it's more Aeon-Flux-y? Looks like a relatively waifish Ms. Deep from Read or Die.
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Feb 20, 2017 23:32
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Simian_Prime posted:My favorite Gygax-speak was "doughty fighters", because I kept reading it as "doughy" and had the image of a bunch of chunky dudes with their beer guts sticking out under their breastplates, huffing as they climb the dungeon stairs. Gym culture and body sculpting died out in Late Antiquity and was only revived relatively recently, so it's actually pretty probable that a lot of the medieval cliches like knights and Vikings would have been a bit flabby over their (probably considerable) muscle. They wouldn't have been, like, hugely chunky - it wasn't an age in which you could get very fat, unless you were very rich - but if you see a modern depiction of medieval warriors as toned dudes with excellent muscle definition, it's probably wrong. Your image of beer gut dudes may not be too far off the mark, is what I'm saying.
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Feb 21, 2017 00:13
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The Sin of Onan posted:Gym culture and body sculpting died out in Late Antiquity and was only revived relatively recently, so it's actually pretty probable that a lot of the medieval cliches like knights and Vikings would have been a bit flabby over their (probably considerable) muscle. They wouldn't have been, like, hugely chunky - it wasn't an age in which you could get very fat, unless you were very rich - but if you see a modern depiction of medieval warriors as toned dudes with excellent muscle definition, it's probably wrong. Your image of beer gut dudes may not be too far off the mark, is what I'm saying. A good point, and still a bit true today; if you look a most professional weightlifters (people training purely for strength, rather than bodybuilders), they usually don't have much tone. You actually need a decent amount of body fat to maintain strong muscles. (Posted by a doughy guy at the gym)
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Feb 21, 2017 00:26
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True to some degree in Antiquity, too. There are passages complaining about Olympic wrestlers with flabby physiques from a diet rich in meat.
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Feb 21, 2017 00:40
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theironjef posted:It's all the rage over on the TG Kickstarter thread. A guy working on a Rifts boardgames had a breakdown after yelling at angry pledgers to a different Rifts project, and evidently attempted suicide shortly thereafter. Kevin apparently saw this as a great story to, you guessed it, score some points in his fight with those same angry pledgers. There's way better detail in the other thread though. To be fair, poo poo has gotten way out of hand with some folks. When you have somebody telling Siembieda to kill himself and show Bellaire how to do it on his way out, people may be taking their cartoon-shaped bits of plastic a touch too seriously. Granted, backer responses have been gracious to furious and that's the far end of the latter scale. It's pretty ugly on every axis, but thankfully the next book is like 90% or so Carella so I don't have to worry too much about how Siembieda is doing at the moment. It's also one of my three favorite Rifts books. It'll be a change of pace. I'll still be riffing on it, mind, because Rifts, but... it'll be more good-natured riffing.
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Feb 21, 2017 01:00
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AmiYumi posted:Thank you for this phrase, I'll be using it forever. Can't claim originality. The phrase has been floating around the 'net since at least 1999. The Sin of Onan posted:Gym culture and body sculpting died out in Late Antiquity and was only revived relatively recently, so it's actually pretty probable that a lot of the medieval cliches like knights and Vikings would have been a bit flabby over their (probably considerable) muscle. They wouldn't have been, like, hugely chunky - it wasn't an age in which you could get very fat, unless you were very rich - but if you see a modern depiction of medieval warriors as toned dudes with excellent muscle definition, it's probably wrong. Your image of beer gut dudes may not be too far off the mark, is what I'm saying. I think I've mentioned this before, but Orson Scott Card's Enchantment has a protagonist who's a super-fit marathon runner and who travels back to medieval times ... where he's dismissed as a useless wimp, because back then Real Men were massively muscular and fat.
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Feb 21, 2017 02:09
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Alien Rope Burn posted:Bear in mind also being near the detonation zone that was D&D 3e was instant RPG cred - i.e. "why people take SKR seriously" - and Cook was one of the designers. I still unironically love Arcana Evolved and Ptolus. I really need to F&F AE.
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Feb 21, 2017 02:14
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You know what? I'm actually happy for Cook. Using token pools as stats certainly isn't his original idea by a longshot and his terms are dumb as hell but at least he's trying to move on, you know? He's reaching people who might otherwise turn up their nose and sneer at anything that doesn't involve D&D style systems. So now I just have to sit back and wait for Invisible Sun to be released and for people to reveal the GM section that talks about how you should steal your players XP or turn critical fumbles into loving terrible events, don't I? I'm sure it's in there.
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Feb 21, 2017 02:19
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I think I enjoyed Monte Cook more as a d20 writer because at least then I could shrug off the system material as somebody else's janky mess at heart (even though he helped design it, seems kind of silly in retrospect...) but when he moved on from d20 it wasn't that much of an improvement and that was pretty disappointing. I wish he would just focus on writing world-building stuff and left the system stuff to others, the former is his forte.
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Feb 21, 2017 02:44
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Doresh posted:But mankind, in its infinite hubris, has played with the laws of nature. Made Idols now infect the minds of your followers. They are mindless still, but who knows what they will be capable of if they gain sentience? You're too late, Doresh!
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Feb 21, 2017 02:47
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ZeroCount posted:You know what? I'm actually happy for Cook. Using token pools as stats certainly isn't his original idea by a longshot and his terms are dumb as hell but at least he's trying to move on, you know? He's reaching people who might otherwise turn up their nose and sneer at anything that doesn't involve D&D style systems.  is when someone is obviously ripping off stuff they don't understand and do a poor job of implementing it.
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Feb 21, 2017 02:49
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Nessus posted:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O17f3lB7BFY Wait. People go to live concerts of a singing computer program? That's kinda sad.
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Feb 21, 2017 02:53
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Laser light shows were a big deal once. So it goes.
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Feb 21, 2017 02:59
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Selachian posted:I think I've mentioned this before, but Orson Scott Card's Enchantment has a protagonist who's a super-fit marathon runner and who travels back to medieval times ... where he's dismissed as a useless wimp, because back then Real Men were massively muscular and fat. It's gotten kind of distracting when watching any of the Sexy Period Drama series on TV. Ripped abs and toned physiques have joined "having all their teeth" and "ubiquitous English accents" in my list of things that shouldn't bother me but always do about characters' appearances in historical fiction.
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Feb 21, 2017 03:03
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Night10194 posted:Wait. People go to live concerts of a singing computer program? I saw Miku opening for Lady Gaga. It works better than you might expect.
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Feb 21, 2017 03:54
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Nessus posted:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O17f3lB7BFY It is still merely a Projection, not an Avatar. The former can be easily overcome with Interviews and Autographs. Doresh fucked around with this message at 07:02 on Feb 21, 2017 |
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Feb 21, 2017 06:58
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Simian_Prime posted:My favorite Gygax-speak was "doughty fighters", because I kept reading it as "doughy" and had the image of a bunch of chunky dudes with their beer guts sticking out under their breastplates, huffing as they climb the dungeon stairs. Gary motherfucking Gygax posted:Monks are monastic aesthetics who practice rigorous mental and physical training and discipline in order to become superior
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Feb 21, 2017 07:01
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The statue viewings are said are said to be particularly taxing.
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Feb 21, 2017 07:06
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Doresh posted:It is still merely a Projection, not an Avatar. The former can be easily overcome with Interviews and Autographs.
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Feb 21, 2017 07:08
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Nessus posted:I assume the Avatar bit would be like the end of Macross Plus then. It's when you throw a wrench into the mighty Projector, only for her Image to still remain. With a flourish of her pigtails, she approaches you. She's holding a leek in both hands and hums Ievan Polka. Doresh fucked around with this message at 07:37 on Feb 21, 2017 |
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Feb 21, 2017 07:17
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Simian_Prime posted:That's kinda what I'm afraid of. I'm in this weird place where I actually enjoy the book for its imagination and presentation values, but I don't want to seem like I'm endorsing his despicable behavior. I'm actually interested in this F&F, considering I have no idea what the drama is with its author. Hes some kind of MRA piece of poo poo and also an abuser, yes?
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Feb 21, 2017 09:33
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mcclay posted:I'm actually interested in this F&F, considering I have no idea what the drama is with its author. Hes some kind of MRA piece of poo poo and also an abuser, yes? Actually no, it's a more weird case where he claims to be sex positive and left-wing but either is a jackass anyway, or pretends to be those things to cover up being a jackass.
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Feb 21, 2017 09:42
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mcclay posted:I'm actually interested in this F&F, considering I have no idea what the drama is with its author. Hes some kind of MRA piece of poo poo and also an abuser, yes? He's not an MRA, but he is a toxic serial harasser who holds grudges for years over, among other things, liking comments on an article, if he didn't like the original article, tells his followers to harass people he doesn't like, impersonates industry professionals, doxxes people...
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Feb 21, 2017 09:42
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FMguru posted:The AD&D 1E PHB had a great Gygax vocabulary flub in describing the Monk. Can you spot it? Found it! quote:Gary motherfucking Gygax posted:
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Feb 21, 2017 12:26
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